Cleveland Heights City Council approves Turkey Ridge tax abatement for new housing

Cleveland City Council on Monday approved a property tax abatement for Turkey Ridge.File photo

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Cleveland Heights City Council approved a 100-percent tax abatement for up to 15 years for new housing, plus repairs of existing homes in the area known as Turkey Ridge.

Turkey Ridge includes parts of Edgehill and Overlook roads and Kenilworth Mews. The proposed ordinance would establish the Turkey Ridge Community Reinvestment Area, making tax abatement available for properties in the area.

The measure won 6-1 approval, with Councilman Jeff Coryell dissenting. Every council member except Jason Stein talked before the vote as to why they were voting "yes" on the ordinance. Coryell spoke about his opposition. Most who voted "yes" said that despite opposition from homeowners in or near the area, they felt the abatement was good for the city as a whole.

"It is one of the few ways we can achieve (the goal of continuing to provide important services)," Councilwoman Melissa Yasinow said.

Councilwoman Janine Boyd says she has been quite conflicted on the redevelopment. She also took issue with residents who hinted that council members have something to gain personally by granting an abatement.

"I'm not getting anything to vote 'yes' for this, but I am voting 'yes,'" she said.

Mayor Dennis Wilcox said the abatement furthers the city's goal of expanding its tax base.

The reasoning being the development will attract higher-income residents who will pay the local income taxes that fund city services.

"We don't want to cut back on services your city provides," said Councilwoman Mary Dunbar. "Residential development on Turkey Ridge will increase (tax revenue). The completed project will be an asset to our community."

Coryell said that while tax abatements can be a good tool to encourage development, he was not convinced such a tool was needed in Turkey Ridge. He said blighted areas are the more likely places the city should grant abatements to developers.

"Results (from a Levin College study on tax abatements) indicate there is no discernible effects between residential property tax abatement and the indicators of neighborhood change (being the broad concepts of increased private investment, blight removal, decreased criminal activity and property tax equity)," Miller said. "If anything, tax abatement used as a tool to improve our housing stock that is suffering in this economic downturn, might be more useful in the areas of our city that are experiencing substantial effects of the subprime and unemployment foreclosure debacle."

Resident Carla Rautenberg said passing the abatement for "one of the wealthiest and most stable neighborhoods of Cleveland Heights would be a big mistake.

"I imagine that some members of City Council may, at times, have joined me in decrying a dismaying trend in this country: that of privatizing gains and socializing losses."

Council members in December agreed to sell part of a 1.7-acre wooded lot on Edgehill Road to Visconsi Companies Ltd. of Pepper Pike, for $175,000. The agreement includes 100 percent tax abatement for 15 years. The city had offered full tax abatement for a maximum of seven years in the past, but Planning Director Richard Wong said the city had to step up its game to attract more developers.

The 10 townhomes – five
clusters of two homes per building – will be built on part of a 1.7-acre lot. The total cost of the project
is $8 million. Wong has estimated the new housing units will bring in $35,000 to $40,000 a
year in income tax revenue for the city.

People who live and work in
Cleveland Heights currently pay 2 percent in taxes on their annual income. Based
on Wong's estimates, that means each of the 10 households would have to rake in
an annual salary of $175,000 to $200,000.

City Council was to have voted Feb. 18 on the abatement, but decided to postpone the vote to allow for more study and public input.

Prior to that meeting a discussion on Turkey Ridge was held with the Cleveland Heights-University Heights school board, and board president Ron Register said he would have liked for the board to have been part of the discussion before the city made the agreement with Visconsi Companies.

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.